At a press release on July 26, acquisition of Vizio was announced. A Chinese company, LeEco, bought Vizio for $2 billion, giving it an instant foothold in the United States TV market.
The deal states that Vizio will be operated independently as a subsidiary. Vizio will have its executive team stay in place as there are no replacements named yet.
The outgoing CEO and founder of Vizio, William Wang, will leave the company but will take the reins of as chairman of Inscape, Vizio's data business. Inscape is being spun out into a privately held company. William Wang will own 51 per cent share of Inscape while LeEco will own 49 per cent. The deal should close in the last quarter of this year, The Verge reported.
Wang described his feeling of the acquisition as a mixed emotion. He said he was very reluctant to let the company go, being its owner and father. However, he said, as a chairman and CEO, it is the best option he could make for his loyal shareholders and employees. But William Wang will still be connected to the company through Inscape, according to Ars Technica.
LeEco may not be familiar to many US consumers, however the company has been trying to get their hands to almost everything that has to do with electronics. The company's CEO is Jia Yueting, who is also the one that blasted Apple saying that they are "outdated".
While Vizio, on the other hand, has been known to be an American success story until it become a major player in the television industry. Last year, however, Vizio faced criticisms after the discovery that their smart TV are collecting information about the users viewing habits.
This deal is only a part of LeEco's even larger ambition. The company is also creating original content for television in China. Their firm, the Le Vision Pictures, makes about 10-15 films per year.
